Silver Mountain Bike Park - is there a better descent in the world?
WOW - Lithium Trail - Teton Pass, Jackson Wyoming
The not so enjoyable part of Mountain Biking in Whistler
Bottom of the World - Surviving Whistler Top to Bottom
Conquering Whistler's Top of the World Trail
Fantasy Enduro - Enduro World Series Fantasy Game
Is the Thredbo AM Trail the best descent in Australia?
MTB Trail Videos - Trail Centre Upgrade Program
VIDEO: The Fourth 365 Days of Reign - My 4th year of Mountain Biking
Pilot Wilderness Ride - Cascade to Pinch - Part 2
Pilot Wilderness Ride - Cascade to Pinch - Part 1
MTB Workout for the Deskbound
Finding Bruce Ridge and Loving It!
VIDEO: Top XC Rides of 2014/2015
VIDEO: 2015 The FAIL Awakens
VIDEO: Nine Days in the Rotorua Redwoods
Exploring all of Sparrow Hill and the East Kowen Forest
VIDEO: 365 Days of Reign - The Third (year of serious mountain biking)
The New Majura Pines and Sparrow Hill Trip
Mountain Biking in the NSW Snowy Mountains
Long term test: Yakima Highroller and Whispbar roof rack
Travelling tips for Mountain Bikers
VIDEO: Giant Anthem 29er vs Giant Reign 26
VIDEO: 2014 FAILS - Will Ride, Will Fail
VIDEO: MTB-TVs TOP 10 Descents of 2014
VIDEO: The Opening of the Alpine Epic Trail - Mt Buller
VIDEO: Wrapping up the Redwoods with a Whak-en Outrageous Ride
VIDEO: Return to the Redwoods Part IV - Eagle vs Shark
VIDEO: Return to the Redwoods Part III - XC Lower Mountain Pedally Days
VIDEO: Return to the Redwoods Part II - Heavily Rooted
VIDEO: Return to the Redwoods Part I - We're Going To The Redwoods
Video: Return to Rotorua ... ok to go!
Video: Return to Rotorua ... definitely maybe!
Video: Return to Rotorua .. maybe?
Cycology - Cycling inspired clothing
Broken Bone on Breakout
Mountain Bike Fail to Triumph in the You Yangs
365 Days of Reign - My 2nd Year on a real mountain bike
Review: the Bionicon C-Guide V2.0
Brake disk rotor size upgrade 180 to 200mm, 160 to 180mm
VIDEO: Rotorua Redwoods - Create Breathing Space
Rotorua - a Mountain Biker’s Journey
Summer Mountain Bike Training at OMV
2013 Another Year of #FAIL
We're going to ride the Rotorua Redwoods
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Epic Brake Bleeding Solutions - Avid Brake Bleed Kit
The Lone Wolf enjoys some group action
Bantry Bay (Northern Beaches, Sydney)
Bruce Ridge (Canberra)
Bungarra Alpine Centre (Snowy Mountains)
Currumbin Border Track (NSW/QLD Border)
Daisy Hill (South Brisbane)
East Kowen (Kowen Pine Forest, Canberra)
Forest Pipeline (Northern Beaches, Sydney)
Fred Caterson Reserve (Castle Hill)
Golden Jubilee Field MTB Park (North Shore, Sydney)
Hassans Walls (Lithgow)
Hinze Dam (Gold Coast)
Jackson (Jackson)
Jindabyne (Snowy Mountains)
Kiwarrak State Forest (Tarree)
Majura Pines (Majura, Canberra)
Manly Dam (Northern Beaches, Sydney)
Mt Joyce (Gold Coast Hinterland)
Mt Kosciuszko (Snowy Mountains)
Nerang State Forest (Gold Coast)
Newnes (Lithgow)
Old Man's Valley (Hornsby, Sydney)
Ourimbah (Central Coast)
Oxford Falls (Northern Beaches, Sydney)
Pilot Wilderness (Snowy Mountains)
Red Hill (Northern Beaches, Sydney)
Rotorua Redwoods (New Zealand)
Silver Mountain (Kellogg)
Singleton (Hunter Valley)
Sparrow Hill (Kowen Pine Forest, Canberra)
St Ives and Belrose (North Shore, Sydney)
Stromlo Forest Park (Canberra)
Terrey Hills (Northern Beaches, Sydney)
The Oaks (Blue Mountains)
Thredbo Resort (Snowy Mountains)
Thredbo Valley Trail (Snowy Mountains)
Whistler Bike Park (Whistler)
Wingello (Southern Highlands)
Wylde MTB Trail (Cecil Park - Western Sydney)
Keeping Busy - Chains, wheels, cassettes and very sore hands
In November my hub "shat itself" - the words of my LBS. Thankfully it was a warranty repair but it dawned on me that with my weight and the type of riding I do a $30 hub will no last long. So I bit the bullet and bought a Hope Pro 2 Evo on a No Tubes Flow EX rim before Christmas, and I love it.
The plan was to setup the original DT Swiss E540 Rim and Shimano Hub as my commuting wheel with a low resistance tyre for better road wear.
Last week I finally received all the pieces I needed to complete my wheel upgrade .. work began yesterday.
Yesterday:
The first issue came trying to remove the cassette from the hub. That baby was stuck on there good and took some work with a rubber mallet to get free. I shot a photo off to Hope to find out what I had done wrong to cause this.
The boy and I then sat out on the street and started to degrease the cassette and both our chains. Wow wasn't that one of the most boring things I've ever done, however now I have some very shiny mech and some VERY SORE HANDS.
Here's a trick .. wear gloves when using degreaser. That stuff does a really good job of removing grease from metal, I never considered what it was doing to my hands. I spent last night rubbing sorbolene, lanoline and pain reducing stuff into my hands. They felt like they were about to turn to dust, not to mention all the nicks in my hands that even today feel like acid is burning its way through. Important lesson learned.
I mounted the new cassette and brake rotor to my primary wheel (No Tubes/Hope) while the old cassette and rotor went onto my spare wheel (DT Swiss/Shimano).
My spare wheel was already sporting some high tech tyres that came off my Big W bike :) I remember agonising over which way the tyre should go, in fact I'm sure I took it off and put it back on more than once. Well the sad thing is it's definitely rotating the wrong way now, so refitting the tyre is on the program today.
Next on the list however is to lube up my son and my chains .. oh I bought a new chain .. I almost forgot! I better go get that.
With the drive chain all sorted my attention will go towards a brake pad inspection and possible change. From the outside they look ok but there is definitely something not right, however one of the positive things about having noisy brakes is they encourage you to get off them and that really helped me out at OMV yesterday.
I guess I should get off the computer and start work - I think I need some caffeine first tho'.
Trail Centres and Trails featured in this blog